The parish of Our Lady Immaculate and St Andrew in Hitchin, Diocese of Westminster, is bringing the community together via the Hitchin Pantry.
“Friendship between charities and refugees” - How one Hitchin Parish has deepened community bonds
When it was heard that an asylum hotel had opened locally, a call out to the parish of Our Lady Immaculate and St Andrew in Hitchin raised enough money to give anybody who wanted it a membership to ‘Hitchin Pantry’, a community food project which runs twice a week from the parish’s Scout Hut with support from Caritas Westminster.
On Friday and Saturday, when Hitchin Pantry is open to shoppers from across Hitchin, the community comes together in the parish hall over a cup of tea and cake and live music before going into the Scout Hut to do their shopping.
Now on any given day you can find people laughing, chatting, cooking together and sharing meals that have been made with items from the pantry. The parish kitchen has been opened so that people staying in the local asylum hotel can cook fresh and healthy food and request specific ingredients so that they can make recipes from home.
The parish has become a place of mutual support for people who have been placed by the Home Office in local asylum accommodation.
“People seeking asylum do not have access to sufficient money, kitchen facilities or food to meet their needs, are provided with food that does not meet food hygiene or nutritional standards, in some cases resulting in hospitalisation ... [e]xperiences of food were broadly experienced as degrading and dehumanising, especially for mothers unable to feed their children adequately.”
The above was reflected in conversations Caritas Westminster had with people who attended the Hitchin Pantry Project. One parent said “It feels like we are in jail…the [hotel] food is very bad. My [child] spent every day in hospital because [child] isn’t eating. Sometimes the food is tasteless and sometimes it is too spicy. When we call Migrant Help, they ask us about the food, but they don’t listen.” Somebody else shared that “the food they give us goes to waste.”
In contrast, when asked about positive elements at Hitchin Pantry one parent with a baby on the way said “Friendship between charities and refugees. They are helpful and friendly guys here – we have the kitchen here and free shopping. If it wasn’t here we would die because we only have £8 to live on. It is not enough for clothes or for preparing for a baby. There is a poster that says the hotel should help provide baby items but then nothing happens.”
Some pantry members have started volunteering at the project. Reflecting on this one person said “I enjoy volunteering at the pantry and kitchen and using what other people throw out. The pantry is very good, and I find very lovely friends. I would like to do other voluntary work.”
Sustain and JRS UK’s report on the food experiences of people seeking asylum in London highlighted the Mental Health impact of asylum hotels, the lack of adequate food and seeking sanctuary more broadly. One young person shared that the pantry project “helps to relieve from stress. Some of the products have helped by getting the products for free. The community has helped solving an education problem. They encourage me.”
Projects like Hitchin Pantry which bring people together and bridge divides are proof that communities want welcome and encounter.
To learn more about Cartas Westminster, visit https://caritaswestminster.org.uk/ .
To find your local pantry, or to set up one in your area, visit https://www.yourlocalpantry.co.uk/
Image: Bishop Paul McAleenan (CBCEW) at the Hitchin Pantry with Elizabeth Wills (Caritas Westminster), Credit: CBCEW Flickr